Connected
by ObrienLover24
Summary: Ever since they were kids Stiles and Lydia have been able to talk. Everyone said it was normal to have an imaginary friend, but they knew it was real. AU in which Stiles and Lydia are somehow telepathically linked.
1. Chapter 1

_Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this story. If you have any questions don't hesitate to PM me. Please review, I love reading them and I check everyday. If you've read one of my previous stories, WELCOME BACK LOVELIES!_

 **Prologue**

Lydia has always been able to hear Stiles, ever since she was young. Her parents, in fact anyone who knew about him, always said he was imaginary and for a while that story was okay for everyone. Lydia knew it wasn't that simple but, to make it easier, that was the story she stuck with. She knows there is no way he is imaginary; he has a family too, his own life. There comes a certain age however, where talking to an 'imaginary friend' isn't cute anymore. Luckily Lydia figured that out and started lying about him before it got too noticeable.

Sometimes she can feel him: a pat on the head or a slight rub on the arm when she's upset but nothing more than that and not for very long, only a couple of seconds at the most. He tells her that it takes a lot of effort and that doing it for longer than that causes him a massive headache. She hasn't figured out how to do that yet even though he keeps trying to teach her, but there is stuff she can do that he can't. Lydia has the ability to create a silence between them. If there is something she doesn't want to hear she can stop hearing it, a thing Stiles can't do. The problem is that he can always reconnect it. It usually takes him a while but he can always do it. It makes it awkward when she's mad at him about something and doesn't want to talk.

It's not like they can always hear everything the other person says and does, it's far more complicated than that. It's exactly like talking to someone in person, like opening your mouth and speaking or keeping it shut and not. Except it's not her mouth that decides whether he hears it, it's something else inside her head. She's thankful for that; she wouldn't want Stiles listening in on some of the things she talks to her friends about. But the worst part is that a lot of the time they have to be talking out loud, they have the ability to talk inside their heads but it also causes a painful ache in their brain. They don't really fully understand why, it just takes a lot more brain power.

Another trait, only realised as they got older, is the ability to hear people around them too. If Stiles is talking to someone, while whatever makes them connected is turned on, and the person is standing within a five foot vicinity, if Lydia really focuses, she can hear them too. But that also gives a massive headache if done for too long.

Stiles and Lydia talk every day, they know every single detail about each other and they know everything about each other's friends, each other's lives. They each get involved in everything to do with their other half. Sometimes they get on each other's nerves but they both know they wouldn't trade it in for anything. They're inseparable, and not just because they have to be.

Lydia never wonders where he is and she doesn't ask. It never enters her head to ask him stuff like that, he has been with her for pretty much her entire life and it just feels natural to interact the way they have been. It's just like he is meant to be there, she never even questions where he came from or even if he is in the same world as her and he never asks her either. Maybe a part of Lydia, deep down inside her, is subconsciously afraid that if she questions where he comes from he'll go away and she'll lose him – that maybe he isn't there after all and she really is crazy. But her brain always keeps telling her that he's _real_ , and she listens to it. Of course he is real.


	2. Chapter 2

Lydia rests her cheek on the cream pillow, her eyes shut, but she's fully awake. It's not that she isn't tired, she's exhausted. But for some reason knowing that she needs to go to sleep because she has school in five hours actually keeps her awake. She turns over from her stomach onto her side and huffs in irritation, determined not to open her eyes and wake herself up even more.

A hand slides gently over her arm and up to her shoulder, resting there. She shakes her entire body so that the hand drops off. "Not now Stiles." She mumbles, her voice croaky with fatigue.

"Stiles?" a voice comes from behind her head and Lydia's eyes snap open. She completely forgot that Jackson had 'stayed over' last night. "I thought you were done with this." Jackson laughs humourlessly as Lydia feels his absence in the bed. She sits up and turns to find him buttoning his shirt.

"Jackson stop overreacting, I was dreaming." She lies, rolling her eyes and falling backwards onto the mattress.

"Whatever, I can't handle your weird imaginary friend right now." He retorts, sliding on his shoes and grabbing the keys to his Porsche before slamming the apartment door behind him. Lydia knows that, to some, having an apartment at 18 might be a little young, especially when she's still at school. But the people that think that also haven't met her parents. She was fine living with her mom when they split up… and then they decided to get back together and Lydia couldn't handle it. Her father truly does bring out the worst in her mother.

Now that Lydia is fully awake, thanks to Jackson, she decides to get up and get a glass of water. 'Tomorrows gonna be fun' she speaks out loud to herself, knowing that she'll be receiving weird looks all day.

"He really is a jerk, I don't understand what you see in him. And FYI, I'm not weird." Stiles' voice bounces back at her and, as soon as he finishes his sentence, Lydia realises her mistake. When she had mumbled 'not now Stiles' she had opened that part of her brain and forgot to close it, meaning Stiles could hear everything after that.

"I don't see anything in him other than his hotness. It's not like we're a couple.' She replies after a long sip of water. 'And, FYI, you're a little weird." She grins.

"I am not!" he argues back. "Also, tell me how hot he is tomorrow when he's told the entire school that you still talk to your imaginary friend."

"I said to him that I was dreaming and that's what I'll tell everyone else if he bothers to spread it, which I doubt he will. What's the point?" Lydia shrugs as she tidies up her empty glass and tip-toes back into her warm bed.

"Because it will give everyone something to talk about, trust me I know how it works. People are bored and dying for a new story to gossip about, no matter how lame it is." Stiles says through a yawn.

"I'll deal with it tomorrow, I need sleep. G'night Stiles." Lydia closes her eyes and, contrary to before, she can already feel sleep washing over her. Maybe all she needed was a glass of water, or for Jackson to get out of her house. Or maybe, like old times, she needed to talk to Stiles. She drifts off so fast that she barely hears him whisper goodnight.

Lydia opens her locker, listening to Malia ranting about something one of her customers said to her at the café yesterday. Allison rolls her eyes at Lydia and she smiles, knowing full well that it was probably Malia that was being rude first. Their friend was fiery most of the time. Isaac, however, listens intently and makes his disgust for the way Malia was treated clear. Lydia doesn't find this surprising in the least, it's obvious that Isaac has a huge crush on Malia. He has since the day she joined the school and became a part of their 'best friends group'.

Eventually the bell goes and they all start walking towards their first class. Lydia quickly feels her eyes starting to roll involuntarily as Hannah Michaels and her clique starts walking towards them. She holds off on the eye roll when Hannah makes eye contact though. 'Here comes Henrietta' Lydia tells Stiles inside her head. She can already feel the aching behind her eyes forming from that one small comment but she couldn't say it out loud while her other friends were all next to her, they would have no idea what that nickname meant. It was a name she and Stiles had come up with together about two years ago, a childish but clever name – based loosely off Henry VII purely by numbers. Hannah has five cute and sweet boys scrambling around after her and she plays each of them, giving them enough to keep chasing her but saves it all for Jackson, the school jerk who wants nothing serious and breaks her heart on pretty much a weekly basis. That's one of the reasons why Hannah hates Lydia; because she sleeps with Jackson.

"I'm here." Stiles' voice sounds in her mind. Lydia holds her head up high as she prepares to walk past her biggest 'enemy' in the school. She hates that word, it sounds like something from a cheesy action movie, but it's really the only word that truly describes her relationship with Hannah. Just as she thinks she's escaped without a confrontation, Hannah grabs onto her arm and pulls Lydia to face her thick pouty lips.

"Hannah…" Allison tries to interfere but she doesn't say anything more than that, there's nothing that will stop Hannah when she wants to do something and they all know that.

"You're such a freak, playing with your imaginary friend. Jackson told me you were talking to him last night, _pathetic_." Hannah smirks, staring threateningly into Lydia's eyes for a second longer before letting go and continuing on her path.

"Are you okay?" Allison asks her best friend and Lydia just nods, forcing a smile. It's not even the fact that she's being bullied, it's the fact that she's being bullied for talking to Stiles. He's her best friend in the entire world.

"When are you going to hit that girl?" Stiles jumps into her brain angrily. Not angry at Lydia, angry at Hannah.

"When you stand up to Mr Harris." Lydia ripostes inside her head, trying to ignore the bubbling pain surfacing. She's referring to a teacher, one that constantly picks on Stiles with no reason for doing so.

"Touché."

Lydia sits next to Isaac, daydreaming throughout Mr Hale's class. She's never really cared for Biology anyway. The only reason she took it, the only reason most people took it, was to ogle Mr Hale.

"Miss Martin?" Hale's voice calling her name drags Lydia out of her daydream and her heart starts pounding slightly. "Care to answer the question? It was last week's homework."

"Help" Lydia mutters quietly to Stiles, out loud but quiet enough to not be heard to give her brain a rest.

"Tell him to repeat the question, I'm listening." Stiles answers quickly, like he always does.

"Could you repeat the question?" Lydia smiles innocently, as if she hadn't just been talking to a kid inside her head.

"What is a chromosome?" Mr Hale repeats himself, smiling but not looking very happy about it.

"A thread-like structure of nucleic acids and protein found in the nucleus of most living cells. It carries genetic information in the form of genes." Stiles feeds her the answer and she calls out each word as she hears it, not understanding a single thing she's saying.

"Very nicely stated, Lydia." Mr Hale nods, satisfied with the answer and then continues to teach his lesson.

"Thanks." Lydia mutters into her hand so that Isaac doesn't hear her.

"Maybe you should spend more time learning what he's teaching you and less time drooling." Stiles retorts and Lydia can feel him grinning, a strange feeling she couldn't possibly explain in words.

Lydia and Malia wander around the school aimlessly during their free period together, just chatting. Lydia lets Stiles in the conversation too, knowing he is home from school today to help his ill mother while his father works and so he has nobody to talk to. There are a lot of comments that Lydia has to repeat, pretending they're her own, for Malia to hear what Stiles says but he doesn't mind, Lydia knows he's just happy to be involved.

"Oh my god!" Malia squeals excitedly, rushing up to a poster. Lydia rolls her eyes and laughs as she slowly walks towards where her friend is reading from a piece of paper stuck to the wall.

"I have to go, my Moms needs me. I'll talk to you later." Stiles sounds a little sad but Lydia doesn't mention it, just in case.

"Okay, talk to me when you're free." She replies and then he's gone. She can just feel that he isn't there.

"Lydia, a carnival is coming to Beacon Hills!" Malia squeals and the strawberry blonde flinches at the loud sound too close to her ears.

"Sounds cool, when is it?" Lydia stands up on her toes so that she can read the post over her friends head. "Malia, its three months away!" Lydia shakes her head and giggles.

"Three months until the _awesome_ carnival, yeah. I can be excited, leave me alone." She pouts in fake irritation and Lydia pats her on the head, grinning.

As soon as Lydia gets home she sits through the daily hour call with her Mom and then makes herself a sandwich. It's been hours since Stiles left to go and help his mom and he still hasn't contacted her, which is weird. She misses him; he's always with her, constantly talking to her and a few hours away from him is too much for Lydia – clingy, right?

"Yo, Stiles you there?" Lydia calls out loud, finally having the freedom of being alone in her own apartment. He doesn't answer. "Mieczyslaw Stilinski?" she speaks out in a teasing tone, knowing that he hates his real name. She can feel him there, feel him listening, but he doesn't answer her. "Stiles?" she asks after a moment of hesitation. And then he's gone and she can't feel him there anymore. Lydia can feel a sort of blockage too and she quickly realises that he's created a silence, something he's never been able to do before.

Now Lydia's worried, if something's bothering him so much that he teaches himself to create a silence between them then she wants to know what it is.

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 _Please review, thanks xx_


	3. Chapter 3

Lydia lies awake for hours worrying about Stiles. It's at least every twenty minutes that she tries contacting him, though to her it feels like hours in between. Each time is the same result – emptiness. It's around 3:30 in the morning when she finally gets a reply.

"Stiles, please let me know you're okay." She tries for the hundredth time, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. She feels utterly useless; her best friend is obviously suffering and the best she can do is sit on her bed and try to get him to answer her.

"I'm not…" his voice finally creeps into her head, making her jump out of surprise. It takes her a second to gather her thoughts and realise what he's just said.

"What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong Stiles." She pushes before he can create another silence between them. She knows, from her own experience, that it can be painful and he's been doing it for the last few hours so he must need a break.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer you… I just didn't know what to say." He trails off and Lydia can feel his sadness – actually, more like _grief_.

"What's happened? How can I help?" she feels like bursting into tears with the way he's speaking right now.

"A few hours ago… my mother died." She can hear the waver in his voice, signalling that he's speaking out loud… or maybe he's just _that_ sad.

"Oh my god, Stiles… I'm so sorry." Lydia can't help the tear that rolls down her cheek. She's never personally met this woman but, in a way, she was still closer to her than to her own mother. When she and Stiles were younger, and it was okay to call each other an imaginary friend, Claudia Stilinski would often 'talk' to Lydia. Stiles would tell his mother what Lydia had said and Claudia would reply. She thought of it like a game, Lydia knew she didn't actually believe her son's friend was real but she appreciated it anyway. "What can I do?" she asks after a moment of silence, clearing the lump in her throat so she wouldn't make it worse for Stiles by sounding upset.

"Be my friend." He replies after several long seconds of silence. That was the sentence that impacted Lydia the most. All he needed was a friend, someone to talk too… and Lydia was going to be that person tonight.

They stay up the entire night, chatting about memories and countless other pointless things to cheer Stiles up. It takes Lydia's alarm going off for school to make her realise how tired she is. She's been sat on her bed talking for the entire night. Stiles, naturally, is taking the day off from school and Lydia debates doing the same, talking to him some more and catching up on her lost sleep. But unfortunately she has no choice; Chemistry exam.

The strawberry blonde can barely keep herself awake during the exam, her eyes fluttering closed and her head drooping forwards every so often. This receives her plenty of odd looks from Malia and Allison.

"What was going on with you in there, you were barely past question two before you were passing out at the table." Malia enquires as the girls exit the classroom. Allison raises an eyebrow and nods in agreement.

"Rough night's sleep." Lydia answers shortly through a yawn. The girls continue walking for a little while and then Allison starts to break away.

"Meeting someone." She grins mischievously at her friend's confused glances.

"Who?" Lydia calls to the back of her brunette flow of curly hair but Allison just continues walking.

"We'll find out. There's no way Allison can keep a secret from us for too long, she'll explode." Malia rolls her eyes and Lydia manages a small laugh but she really wants to pass out… _maybe just a few minutes in the supply closet before next lesson_? She ponders whilst eyeing up the quiet and comfortable looking room.

"Lydia… I want your opinion on something." Malia talks and distracts the red head.

"You free?" Stiles pops into her thoughts at the same time.

"Yeah," Lydia replies to both people at once. "Talking to Malia. Just listen in." Lydia quickly burns the message through to Stiles in her head, ignoring the pain behind her eyes. She's just glad that he _wants_ to be involved after what's just happened to him. He probably needs something to do, get his mind off of things for a while.

"So, I was at the café yesterday and Isaac walked in to come see me…" Malia starts and Lydia begins to nod slowly. "We started talking like we usually do… and then he asked me something."

"This is starting to sound good, please continue." Lydia wakes up a little more and she can feel Stiles' presence with her.

"He invited me to the Carnival in three months." Malia finally gets to the point and Lydia smiles.

"About time!" Stiles inputs and Lydia's smile grows.

"About time indeed." Lydia says out loud and Malia frowns slightly but lets the 'indeed' slide.

"So what do you think?" she asks, a sort-of half smile on her lips with obvious nervousness.

"Nervous." Lydia lets Stiles know the extra detail that Stiles can't see inside her head and can almost feel him nodding in a sort of ' _obviously!_ ' kind of way.

"Tell her to say yes." He says and now it's Lydia's turn for the obviously nod.

"Go for it." Is Lydia's simple reply. Malia's eyebrows raise and she swallows.

"It's in three months… what if he changed his mind?" Malia rubs her neck as if the room is suddenly getting really warm.

"He won't, trust me. He's had a crush on you since the day you moved to this school." Lydia laughs and Malia looks genuinely surprised.

"He has?" Malia relaxes a little bit and steps closer to Lydia – it's obvious she's after more information.

Lydia, and technically Stiles since he has to remind Lydia of a few things, spends a little while explaining to Malia how obvious it is to everyone except her that Isaac is interested. The most important thing to Lydia is how she can hear the happiness in Stiles' voice… not like it usually is but certainly better than last night.

As the days pass on Stiles seems to get better and better emotionally. He laughs more and cracks more jokes. Eventually he decides on going back to school, which means he and Lydia talks less. She misses him a lot during the school hours and, although she knows it's selfish, she sort of wants him home again.

Lydia gets home from school on Friday after a tiring cheerleading try out that Malia made her take with her. She definitely won't be becoming a cheerleader. She opens the fridge, grabs a juice carton and plops down onto the sofa where she can rest her sore swollen ankle that she somehow managed to twist while attempting a tower with the other cheerleaders. She's about to talk to Stiles when she hears the murmur of a girl's voice on his side. She listens carefully.

"This is a really nice place, do you live here on your own?" she asks.

"No I live with my father and… uh, just my father." He corrects himself before he can say mother and Lydia's heart starts to ache.

"Well it's a lovely place." The girl's voice gets closer to him and Lydia can almost feel his nerves. She can't deny she feels jealous, but she doesn't know why – she could _never_ be with Stiles even if she wanted too.

"Oh, uh… I don't know when my father will be back…" Stiles suddenly says through a thick swallow. Lydia can tell that the girl must have just kissed him.

"It's fine, we'll hear the door." The girl giggles back and Lydia fills with a rage that she can't explain. She does not like this girl _at all_. But she also knows that she has no reason to hate her, she just does.

Lydia stops listening and tries to watch a movie so she's not thinking about Stiles and some girl making out with each other and… god knows what else. Eventually, just as Lydia is falling asleep that night, Stiles' voice pops into her head.

"Hey!" he calls with his voice sort of distorted; she guesses he has a pen or pencil in his mouth. He does love to draw some nights. She's about to reply but then hear the soft yawn of the girl coming from behind Stiles and decides the bed looks more inviting.

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 _PLEASE REVIEW XXX_


	4. Chapter 4

_I know I usually update tomorrow, but I have been writing small chunks all week and have finished the chapter earlier... so have an early chapter! :D Thanks for all the lovely reviews, they really inspire me to keep writing and i'm so happy you guys all enjoy this story. Next chapter will be out next week on the usual day... THANKS AGAIN FOR READING AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE REVIEW xxx_

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"Hey Lyd. You awake?" Stiles' voice wakes Lydia from her deep, and peaceful, sleep.

"I am now." She replies, yawning and stretching her arms high above her head.

"Sorry. I tried to talk to you last night but you didn't answer. I figured you were asleep so I thought I'd try and get you now." Stiles tells her apologetically. "Besides, it's Saturday."

Lydia hadn't even realised it was the weekend. She rubs her eyes and sits up on her bed, stretching again to try and wake herself up a little more. "What do you need?"

"Nothing, I just wanna talk. I wanted to tell you about something." A hint of excitement travels in a wave with his voice and she can't help but roll her eyes; it's clearly his little friend last night. She pushes that feeling aside and tries to be excited for her best friend. She doesn't even know this girl.

"What's her name?" Lydia asks, trying to sound interested. Stiles hesitates for a second.

"How did you know?" he speaks slowly, confusion lacing his tone.

"I heard the start of your conversation. Dint worry, I stopped listening before anything happened." She adds, shuddering at the thought of Stiles with some other girl.

"Oh… well, she's called Lucy." He tells her. There's something about his tone, almost proudness.

"Cute." Lydia replies, though the same fills her with bad thoughts. She now understands how Stiles feels when Jackson stays over.

Her phone starts buzzing and Allison's face lights up the screen. "I have to go. Ally's calling." Lydia softens her voice slightly now that the subject has changed, without realising.

"Talk to you later."

Lydia answers the call and holds the phone to her ear. "Hey!" she greets her friend.

"Meet me at the pool? Malia's coming too." Allison jumps straight to the point, skipping the greeting.

"Sure. Be there in a few." Lydia replies and they both hang up the phone. They don't have long conversations, not like she does with Stiles.

Lydia gathers her things, a purple bikini and other essentials, and heads out of her apartment. When she arrives at the pool both of her friends cars are already parked outside. The strawberry blonde grabs her bag and struts into the building, paying for the swimming time and then heading towards the changing rooms. She checks her phone – a message from Allison 20 minutes ago saying they're heading into the pool. While trying to shove her phone back into her bag, Lydia suddenly slams into someone.

"I'm so sorry!" she blurts out before even looking at who she crashed into. A guy stands in front of her, his hand resting on her arm slightly, and Lydia can definitely say that he's hot. Like, super-hot.

"It's okay, don't worry about it!" he laughs, squeezing her arm gently to reassure her and Lydia realises that her face still holds a shocked expression. She quickly turns it into a smile and nervously tucks her hair behind her ear. His hand isn't on her arm anymore but she barely notices; her whole body is numb with embarrassment.

"Thanks." She smiles awkwardly and he grins slightly as she passes his muscular hot body and walks into the women's changing rooms. Once safely away from the situation, Lydia lets out a sigh and squeezes her eyes shut in horror. Why does she have to be so clumsy?

When she's finally changed and ready, Lydia heads into the pool and locates her friends sitting on the edge chatting.

"Finally!" Malia teases and Lydia pushes her into the water, earning a giggle from Allison. She drops down on the edge next to the brunette with her legs dangling in the water.

"I just had the most embarrassing moment of my life!" she complains, running her fingers through her hair. "I bumped into this super-hot guy… like full on body slammed him!"

"Hot you say?" Malia's head pokes out of the water in interest and Lydia splashes her with water.

"What was his name?" Allison asks, scooting herself closer to Lydia and swishing her legs under the water.

"I don't actually know." Lydia shrug and Allison rolls her eyes.

"Lydia!" she complains.

"It was one of those moments!" she argues back. "I don't think to ask."

"Typical" Malia grins, pulling Lydia's leg. Lydia jumps into the water and dunks Malia's head under. Once the girl resurfaces, she speaks straight away. "Allison's gonna finally tell us who she's been sneaking off to see."

"I haven't been sneaking off! You know where I've been going." Allison laughs and both Malia and Lydia shake their heads.

"Who is he?" Lydia asks, pulling herself back onto the edge of the pool.

"How do you know it's a he?" Allison raises an eyebrow but quickly lets it fall again when she notices the unentertained expressions on the other two girls. "His name is Scott. He goes to a different school and he is really nice. Happy?"

"Once we meet him, yeah." Malia answers and Lydia nods in agreement.

"Well you will, at the carnival. Can we shut up about boys and swim now?" Allison pleads.

Lydia doesn't get home until 8:30 that night. After swimming the girls all went out for a meal and then went to see a movie. They hadn't had a proper girls day in ages, so they decided they needed one. By the end of it, Lydia was knackered.

"Hey." She sends a greeting over to Stiles and waits for a reply while shaving her legs. She's had a great day but the one thing that's missing is her talks with Stiles. That will make it a perfect day.

"Yo!" he replies, his mouth full of pencil again.

"Drawing?" she asks, finishing off her legs and then just settling and relaxing in the warm water.

"Yeah, just doodling." He answers. "What've you been up to?"

"Out with Allison and Malia. You?" she returns, closing her eyes.

"Out with Lucy." And suddenly Lydia doesn't feel so blissed out. She doesn't know what it is but she hates this girl.

"How's your dad?" she changes the subject, hoping to leave the topic of Lucy for the rest of their conversation. It works for a while. Lydia carefully picks things to say that doesn't involve relationships in any way and manages to stay like that for an hour.

"I have to go, Lucy's here. She wants me to help her study, talk tomorrow?" Stiles tells her and Lydia's heart drops slightly. She agrees, trying to remain cheery but she has a hollow feeling inside her that wasn't there before. She hates to say it, but she starts to think she may have a crush on Stiles – the kid she has never seen before in her life.

Lydia continues to listen for a while, letting the jealously bubble inside her until it gets too much and she stops. She sits there for another ten minutes, thinking about her feelings. She can't have a crush on Stiles, that would never work out! And yet she does…

Maybe it's from talking to him too much… maybe she needs to stop speaking to him for a little while until her feelings calm down. She gets out of the bath, gets dressed into her PJ's and starts watching some TV but her mind keeps wandering back to Stiles. It's true, she has a huge crush on him. She's never really noticed it before but now that she's thinking about it, she knows it's true. She can't focus on the movie and she knows she won't be able to so she does the only other things she can think of… she calls Jackson.


	5. Chapter 5

Lydia tries her best to talk to Stiles less. At first it was a gradual thing. She lied and said she was busy or sometimes she even just didn't answer when he tried talking to her. Then, one day, Stiles just stopped trying… they haven't spoken in two weeks. However, she doesn't feel any different towards him in the feelings department and she misses him more than ever. She finds herself often sitting alone on her apartment balcony having to force herself not to speak to him… and it kills her. She just keeps telling herself that it's for the best – that she can't have feelings for someone she will never meet and if that means never talking to him again then she'll have to suffer. But deep down she doesn't believe a word of it.

"What about Jackson?" Allison queries. Malia and Ally have been trying for the past hour to find Lydia a date for the Carnival. They feel terrible that they will be with their dates and Lydia won't have anyone.

"Don't give her that idea!" Malia jumps in quickly. She hates Jackson almost as much as Stiles does. "What about the hot pool guy?" she shrugs.

"I don't even know his name… and I bumped into him and made a fool of myself. That's hardly a good meet cute."

"What about..." Allison takes a moment to think.

"I don't need a date, I already told you guys that thousands of times!" Lydia practically growls, feeling extremely frustrated.

"You okay?" Allison frowns slightly and Lydia notices Malia scooting a little closer to her.

"Yeah, I'm just stressing about… classes." Lydia softens her voice and forces a smile. The truth is she's been miserable ever since she stopped speaking to Stiles.

"Don't worry about class; you're smart enough to pass." Malia smiles softly, a thing she doesn't do very often, and Lydia realises she must really look miserable for Malia to show these kind of emotions.

"Honestly, even if you weren't smart enough to pass, which you are, it's still not worth stressing over." Allison adds. "People spend their whole lives stressing and they stop doing what they love because they think it will interfere with their school work… I say, do what you love and worry about the consequences later."

"Good role model advice, Ally." Malia rolls her eyes and Lydia laughs.

Lydia takes that message to heart. Maybe what Allison was saying isn't the same concept as what Lydia is going through but the ending, 'do what you love and worry about the consequences later' really sticks with her… who cares if she has a crush on Stiles? She'll move on when she finds the right guy, wont she?

"You know, you're right." Lydia smiles and for the first time in a while, it's genuine. "Stiles?" she sends the message through to Stiles in her head, so excited to speak to him again that she barely feels the burn. "I'm gonna head over to the toilets before class. See you guys later." Lydia turns and speeds off before they can offer to join her.

"Lydia?" Stiles voice bounces back at her, a clear sound of surprise in his tone. "I haven't spoken to you in weeks, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just had to think some things over… don't worry about it. How have you been?" Lydia can't keep the grin off her face as she ducks into a supply closet and drops down onto the floor, leaning against the door.

"What do you mean? Think what over?" Stiles sounds worried and by the strain in his voice, she can tell that he's speaking to her in his head… and that it's painful.

"Are you not alone?" Lydia changes the subject.

"I'm in class at school… don't change the subject!"

"Stiles, I'm fine. Don't worry about it, it's sorted." Lydia can't believe how relieved she is to hear Stiles' voice.

"Hang on let me get out of the classroom so we can talk properly. I'm getting a headache." Stiles is gone for a few minutes and then he resounds. "I'm back."

"How are you?" Lydia breathes out, happiness filling her once again after two weeks of silence. It's at this moment that she realises… she needs Stiles Stilinski.

"I'm okay. I've been seeing Lucy quite a lot and-"

"I don't want to talk about Lucy." Lydia blurts out, obviously taking Stiles by surprise since it takes him a few seconds of silence to gather his thoughts.

"What do you mean? Why?" he sounds confused and slightly hurt.

"Because… I want to talk about you?" Lydia tries to cover herself, squeezing her eyes shut in embarrassment. She hadn't even meant to blurt it out.

"Lydia, that's not the reason and I know it. I can tell when you're lying to me. Just like I could tell that you were lying to me every time you said you were busy and couldn't talk to me." Stiles sounds sort of pissed off now, like he's wanted to say that for a while.

"Stiles, where is this coming from? Do you think I lie to you?" Lydia slyly tries to change the focus around so that it's not completely about her reason for lying.

"I know you lie to me. We've never lied to each other and I don't understand why _you've_ started to… so please enlighten me." Stiles sounds a lot less than calm and to make matters worse… the topic is back to why Lydia's lying.

"Stiles, I promise I haven't lied to you. What can I do to pr-"

"Lydia!" Stiles half yells at her and she just breaks.

"Because I think I like you!" she screams back, feeling her cheeks getting flushed and her eyes sting slightly with the tears that threaten to fall.

"W-what?" Stiles stutters after a few agonising minutes of silence for Lydia. "You… you like me?"

Lydia's breath deepens and she feels as if she's about to pass out. With her hands pressed tightly over her eyes, she searches every corner of her brain for something to say… something to get her out of this situation and without embarrassing herself even more. Coming up with nothing, Lydia grits her teeth and creates a silence between them. She drops her head down onto her knees and starts to softly cry, praying to all of the gods she can think of and begging that she hasn't just ruined everything with one of the only people in the entire world that makes her happy.

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	6. Chapter 6

"Lydia?" Stiles pushes through the silence for the hundredth time that night, his voice sounding tired and impatient. Lydia just lays there, the covers pulled up over her face. She creates another silence but she knows it's no use. It only takes him around ten minutes to break through and invade her thoughts with his husky voice.

"Okay, I'm going to sleep…" Stiles tells her. He sounds softer, with a hint of sadness. She feels arms wrap around her entire body, hugging her and warming her skin. Tears fall down her cheeks; he's doing this because he feels bad for her, despite it being incredibly painful for him to do a massive gesture like this. It only lasts for a second, the pain obviously becoming too much for his brain to handle… but that one second was worth it to Lydia.

Three days pass and Lydia doesn't speak to Stiles. It's not like before; he still speaks to her and tells her about his day, but she doesn't answer. It continues like this, Stiles being very careful not to mention Lucy or include her when he tells Lydia about his day, even though Lydia can tell that she was with him – nobody goes to watch a movie or out to dinner alone.

The bullying from Hannah has gotten worse too. Lydia hasn't seen Jackson at all and so he's moved on to Hannah, feeding the stupid slut lies and secrets of Lydia's that she intrusted with him. Basically, her whole life has gone to hell since she told Stiles she loves him – Karma?

"Lydia!" Malia squeals excitedly and the strawberry blonde flinches out of her daydream. "The carnival is literally a week away… and you haven't got a date."

"A week?" Lydia can hardly believe it. She hasn't spoken to Stiles in almost two months. "I'm sorry." she quickly sends over to him before recreating the silence. He deserves that much as least.

Around ten minutes later, as she expected, his voice starts breaking through. "Lydia, we have to talk about this eventually…"

"Can we not?" she finally answers him.

"Lydia?" Malia furrows her eyebrows and places a hand on her shoulder. "Why are you crying?"

"Oh, I just have allergies." She laughs. "I'll just quickly go to the bathroom."

Lydia quickly rubs her eyes and jogs off towards the supply closet she always uses. "Lydia, please…" Stiles' voice cracks and she can tell that he was just listening in and that he heard Malia ask her why she was crying.

"Oh, look who it is…" Hannah steps in her way. Lydia's head is spinning; there's too much going on at once for her to handle.

"Not now Hannah, please." Lydia practically begs, her head thumping and the whole room feels like it's shrinking around her.

"Lydia what's wrong?" Stiles asks slowly, obviously slightly sensing how she feels right now.

"Sneaking off to see your little imaginary friend?" Hannah smirks and her little clique giggles like she'd just said the funniest thing they'd ever heard.

"Hannah, leave me alone right now." Lydia breathes out, her heart pumping and adrenaline taking over.

"Or what, you gonna get _Stiles_ on me?" she laughs cruelly and pokes Lydia hard on the chest. "You don't get to boss me around _freak_."

At that moment Lydia just snaps. The world around her stops shrinking, it just slows down and all she can feel in the crack against her knuckles as her fist flies into Hannah's nose. Hannah staggers backwards, holding onto her bloody nose and staring at Lydia like a deer caught in headlights.

Adrenaline makes Lydia's hands shake and she runs past as the overly dramatic posse of Hannah's crowd around her. She pushes into the closet and shuts the door behind her, breathing heavily and trying to calm her heart down.

"Lydia, what happened?" Stiles sounds worried and confused.

"I just punched Henrietta!" Lydia laughs out loud, using the nickname they created for her.

"Yes!" Stiles yells in excitement. "Finally! Oh my god Lydia, that is the best thing I've heard all day." He laughs and she joins in, feeling herself calm down just by hearing those words.

"Now it's your turn to stand up to Mr Harris." Lydia makes sure he gets her smirk as well as the sentence.

"Maybe one good thing a day, yeah?" he retorts playfully and for a moment, Lydia forgets that it was ever awkward. "Lydia, can we talk… about that thing you said?"

"Stiles, please can we just forget about it. I don't want to talk about it." Lydia closes her eyes and leans back against the door.

"Okay fine, we won't talk about it. Just promise to start talking to me again, I miss your voice." Stiles says sadly and Lydia nods, even though he can't see her.

"I promise." Lydia smiles slightly and opens her eyes again, a wave of calmness washing over her.

"Let's never do this again. This is the second time we haven't spoken in weeks and I hate it."

"Agreed."

Lydia didn't get excluded for hitting Hannah; all the teachers know exactly what she's like and have all secretly been hoping that one day someone would whack her. She did get a detention though - she broke her nose, they had to do something.

Days pass and Stiles and Lydia pretty much return to normal, with the occasional awkward moment whenever Stiles accidentally mentions Lucy or they say anything about the conversation they had. Lydia still has those feelings; she's just waiting for them to fade.

"What about the black one with the red flowers?" Allison suggests to Lydia as they try to find her something to wear. It's Saturday, the day the Carnival opens. Lydia tries on the dress and Allison holds her thumbs up, while Malia just sighs dramatically from the corner.

"Okay, I'm just gonna wear this. Let's go." Lydia laughs.

They all arrive at the Carnival and Isaac is waiting at the entrance for Malia. They disappear off together without saying a word and Allison rolls her eyes.

"Be back in two seconds." Ally assures her before climbing up some steps to get a better view of the set up.

"Hey." Lydia greets Stiles, knowing that Allison is obviously searching for her boyfriend.

"Hey, I can't really talk. I'm at some event thing." Stiles tells her. "Sorry."

"That's fine, I'm actually out too. I've been dragged to some C-"

"Lydia!" Allison waves her over and disappears into the crowd.

"I have to go, the queen has spoken. Talk to you later."

"Cya." Stiles laughs, knowing that she's talking about Allison.

Lydia finds the brunette, huffing as she's shoved around by the crowd. "Where are we going?"

"I found Scott… you wanted to meet him, right?" Allison grins wildly and Lydia nods enthusiastically. They push their way through the crowd and eventually come to some stalls with different games to win prizes. A tall, tanned guy stands facing one of the games. "Scott!" Allison calls out as they near the guy. He turns around and grins at her.

"Hey Ally!" he sounds so happy to see her and Lydia can't help but smile. "Is this Lydia or Malia?" he asks.

"This is Lydia. Malia is off with her boyfriend somewhere." Allison rolls her eyes once again and then links arms with Scott.

"Oh, there he is!" Scott grins. "My friend has been dying to meet you babe, he's over there with his girlfriend. I refused to even tell him your name until the Carnival" Scott laughs and then realises that Lydia is still there and, not wanting to leave her out, says "You come too, Lydia. I'm sure he'd been happy to meet you."

"Oh, I don't know…" Lydia looks around to see if she can break away and leave Ally and Scott alone for a while.

"No, come on Lyd." Allison grabs her arm and pulls her along with them.

They head towards a couple standing in line for the Ferris wheel. "Hey bro!" Scott calls out and the couple turn around.

 _'Oh my god_ ' Lydia thinks to herself… its pool guy. The guy she crashed into at the pool. He seems to recognise her too since the corners of his mouth tilt up slightly as he looks at her.

"Girls," Scott speaks, addressing both of them, "This is Stiles." Lydia's heart stops for a second and her eyes widen slightly. It can't be the same one, can it? Stiles isn't exactly a popular name…

"Stiles, this is my girlfriend Allison and her best friend, Lydia." Scott gestures to them both. Stiles' face does exactly the same as Lydia's did and that confirms it for her – this is Stiles. This is _her_ Stiles.

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Please review :D


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks guys for all the lovely reviews! Also, in celebration of my first story to reach 80 followers 'woooo' i have decided to interact with some of you. Every day, starting today, I am going to go through my reviews and pick one at random, then message that user to say thanks. It's up to you whether you reply or have a conversation or not :D Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter xx_

Lydia tries to pull her eyes away from the boy standing in front of her and think of something to say but she can't. Neither can he by the looks of it, he's just staring right back with wide eyes.

"Hey guys!" Malia's voice sounds from behind but Lydia can't bring herself to look at her friend; her mind is rushing and trying to make sense of the situation. How, in all of the years she'd been in this town, had she not met Stiles before? Well, she had met him before at the pool but only that once.

The thing that finally makes Lydia looks away is the cautious looks coming from Lucy's face as she watches them. She forces her eyes down to the ground and turns her entire body to face her friends so she's not as tempted to look back.

"Is it you?" Stiles voice pops into her head. She looks at him through the corner of her eye and nods slightly. His face lights up, a twinkle is his eyes, and Lydia can't help but smile. Well, more like grin.

Lydia suddenly realises that her friends are walking, so she quickly catches up. They plop down on a wooden bench, Lydia ending up on the end opposite Stiles, who is still looking at her with a look that perfectly communicates how she's feeling right now.

"Does anyone know where to get drinks from?" Malia asks impatiently, clutching onto Isaac's arm and sticking her tongue out like a thirty dog.

"Back at the start," Scott answers her "There are loads of different places spread around but back at the start is the closest. They only do water though."

"I'll get them," Lydia volunteers, needing to have the space to think anyway.

"You can't carry them all by yourself!" Allison shakes her head and starts to stand up.

"I'll go with her." Stiles stands up before Allison and she raises her eyebrows and then shrugs.

"Want me to come?" Lucy frowns at Lydia and then gives Stiles her best puppy dog eyes.

"It's okay, you stay here and rest your legs. You were saying they ached." Stiles smiles softly and then kisses her on the forehead. For the first time since seeing him, Lydia willingly looks away.

Stiles and Lydia walk together in silence, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. Luckily for Lydia, who feels so overwhelmed she might pass out, Stiles starts the conversation.

"I can't believe it's you," Stiles laughs and Lydia giggles slightly at his excitement "All this time we've been talking and finally I can see your face!"

"How have we never met before?" Lydia looks into his caramel brown eyes and then realises that they've stopped walking and are standing in the middle of the bustling crowd of people.

"We could have; we've never known what the other looks like and so wouldn't have associated a random person with each other." Stiles shrugs.

"Like the pool." Lydia offers and Stiles nods. For a moment they just stand looking at each other, observing every feature on their best friend. Lydia was right when she met him the first time at the pool, he's incredibly hot. His eyes aren't just brown, they're the most gorgeous caramel colour and his hair, gelled up sticking in all directions, is the kind of hair that you want to run your hand through and play with. And Lydia never expected him to be so muscular.

"So, what do you think?" Lydia laughs nervously, wanting his opinion now that she'd come to hers.

"You're beautiful." Stiles smiles softly, much like the one he had given Lucy, and Lydia melts. If she had feelings for him before, they were a thousand times stronger now. They take a step towards each other and Lydia can feel her heart beat through her eyes, like one of those cartoons. Every noise slowly disappears other than the breathing of the person standing in front of her.

And then, someone from the crowd squeezes between them and the noises all come back into focus. Lydia remembers Lucy and her cheeks flush red, she feels guilty even though they didn't actually do anything. "We should get the drinks now." Lydia smiles but can't bring herself to look up at him.

"Sure." He goes to put his hand on her arm but resits, holding it up for a second and then just letting it drop down by his waist.

They head to the start of the carnival, next to the entrance, and find the stall that Scott was talking about. Lydia stands listening to Stiles' husky voice as he asks for seven bottles of water and they continue in silence for more than half the walk back to their friends.

"I can't believe I didn't associate Allison's Scott with your Scott before I came to meet him." Lydia shakes her head in disbelief.

"You know they're both the same Scott, right?" Stiles grins at her, teasing her like he always does.

"Shut up!" she playfully punches his arm. "You know what I mean."

"Like I said, we wouldn't have associated them because we've never even thought about whether the other one could really actually be real." Stiles looks at Lydia as if she might disappear.

"I always knew you were real." Lydia smiles up at him and he smiles back, both clearly thankful that the awkward moment has passed.

"Took your time!" Malia complains from the table and Lydia rolls her eyes and throws a bottle of water at her. "I could have gone and got drinks four times over in the time it took you two!"

"Oh shut up, we got them didn't we?" Lydia giggles and she can immediately tell what Stiles is thinking by his face. He knows her friends so well from listening in and he's now finally meeting them too. Lydia can't wait for all the fun times they're going to have actually hanging out together, as long as Lucy lets him off his chain of course.

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Please review xx


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry I didn't update last week guys, I had a personal issue that made me lose inspiration. I wanted your opinion on something: should I make an Instagram page? that way I could let you guys know when I upload and you could ask me questions etc. Let me know through PM or down in the reviews :D I don't wanna make it if you guys wouldn't follow it x Thanks for reading!_

Lydia and Stiles barely spoke the rest of the time at the carnival, but they didn't have to. They kept staring at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking, both clearly experiencing one of the best days they could ever have. When it was time to leave, Lydia made sure she got to finally hug Stiles and he did the same. This gave Lucy a sour face, as expected, but Lydia really didn't care. The girls then all drove back to Lydia's apartment for a girly sleepover.

"So what's up with you and Stiles?" Allison asks, lying on Lydia's bed in a blue tank-top and pair of leggings borrowed from Lydia as makeshift pyjamas.

"What do you mean?" Lydia talks slowly, trying to sound as normal as she can. She doesn't turn around, taking off her make-up in the mirror.

"She means how you were staring at him like you saw a ghost… a sexy ghost." Malia smirks and Allison nods in a 'that's exactly what I meant' kind of way.

"I was not!" Lydia shakes her head but she can't keep the smile off her face as she thinks of seeing Stiles for the first time.

"Holy shit!" Malia suddenly yells, jumping up from the bed and startling the other two, "His name was Stiles!"

"Yeah?" Lydia laughs, turning back to the mirror and hoping that Malia doesn't go with this conversation where she thinks she's going with it.

"That was the name of your imaginary friend when you were a kid, that's insane!" she laughs, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Yeah that's pretty weird." Lydia shrugs as if it's nothing. "It's just a name."

"That's the weirdest name in human history." Allison laughs. "Not exactly a popular name."

"Not as bad as Mieczyslaw." Lydia mutters under her breath with a smirk as she thinks about what Stiles' comeback would be right now.

"Huh?" Allison frowns and Lydia just shrugs it off.

"Is that why you were ogling him?" Malia grins devilishly, "Because he has the same name as your imaginary friend?"

"No!" Lydia's voice cracks and she blushes. "I wasn't ogling him. I was just… surprised."

"About what?" Allison raises her right eyebrows in question.

"He was the guy from the pool!" Lydia tells them, slightly more excited than she should've sounded; she's just relieved she could think of an excuse that she doesn't have to lie about. She really did crash into him at the pool. "Anyway what is this, 20 questions?"

"We were just curious. It's not often that someone grabs the attention of my little red-head." Allison winks. Lydia knows exactly what Stiles would say right now. 'She's actually strawberry blonde.' He has a tendency to be awkward like that.

"Was I the only one that noticed how high maintenance Lucy was?" Malia rolls her eyes and Allison hums in agreement.

"She was?" Lydia leans forwards, knowing that she's probably too interested.

"Ugh, god yes!" Allison groans, "You didn't see her most of the time cause you were off getting drinks with Stiles. She was awful!"

"Even Isaac rolled his eyes a couple times and you know how friendly he is to everyone." Malia adds. Lydia feels her heart flutter slightly in excitement and then feels bad. She's Stiles' girlfriend, she should at least try to like her.

The girls all talked for a while longer until they eventually fell asleep. Lydia wakes up with her face crammed between a pillow and the back of Malia's hair. They'd agreed that two would sleep in the bed and one on the floor with a couple of pillows. Malia had volunteered for the floor but, clearly, it wasn't as comfortable as she had thought it would be. The strawberry blonde manages to push herself up from in between her friends and she wriggles down the bottom of the bed and onto the floor. She tiptoes into the kitchen through a yawn and flicks the coffee kettle on, groaning as she looks at the clock for the first time: 7:30am. If she'd known then she wouldn't have gotten out of bed yet but she knows she'll never get back to sleep now… she'd probably never get back into her own freaking bed.

"Stiles?" she tries, hopeful.

"Woke up early too?" his voice bobs into her mind and she smiles.

"Yup. Why did you?" she asks, the headache already starting to form from talking inside her head.

"Scott snores like a road drill. You?" he replies and Lydia giggles slightly.

"Just woke up." She sighs, contently, as she leans on the kitchen side.

"Coffee?" Stiles asks. Lydia switches off the coffee kettle before he even finishes the question.

"You know _Griffen's_?" Lydia questions as she changes into a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt.

"Yeah, meet you there." He answers. Lydia ties her hair up in a quick bun and applies a minimal amount of make-up: enough to make her seem passable. She then leaves a quick 'I'm running errands' note for her friends and slips out the door on her way to _Griffen's_.

Stiles is already sat at a table outside when she gets there, sipping at a mocha – Lydia knows him well enough to know what he's drinking. She finds herself smiling as much as the first time she saw him, unable to believe that this is truly real. He looks up and smiles the same smile when he sees her.

"Hey, I ordered you an Americano. Is that okay?" he tells her as she sits opposite him. He's wearing white t-shirt with red jeans and his hair is sticking up, exactly how she imagined it to be.

"You know me well." She grins, sipping at the cup. "Thanks."

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 _Please Review x_


	9. Update

Hey guys, not an upload sorry. I just feel like I should let you know that I've had some family issues recently and that's why I didn't upload last week. I also can't upload till next week because of them.

I hope you guys understand and continue to read this story, despite the missing chapter dates! I got a message from one of you (I won't name them but they know who they are) with some horrible stuff. Basically saying I "owe" you guys chapters and that I should upload when I say I will. Well, miss, I will upload when I can which isn't always. You can stop reading if you don't like it.

The rest of you guys have been totally amazing and sweet! I love you.

I will try to upload next week. I'm part way through a chapter but haven't finished yet


	10. Chapter 10

_WOO! I'm back with a new chapter! And 100 followers? Wow! :D thanks guys. Been a while, right? You guys may wanna re-read the last one to make sure you remember what's going on and I hope that you enjoy this chapter! xx_

"Did Malia and Allison stay over?" Stiles ponders, running his index finger around the rim of his coffee cup in a way that has Lydia distracted for a moment until he looks up at her again.

"Uh, yeah. I left them a note." She nods. "Did Scott stay over then? What about Lucy."

"She went home." Stiles replies shortly, showing Lydia that he doesn't want to talk about it. Lydia feels a guilty pang of happiness over that.

"Okay. So where's Scott?" she changes the subject for him.

"Asleep. I text him to say I was going out."

There's a minute of peaceful silence between them. "You know, I keep getting scared that I'm about to wake up from a dream and not have met you at that carnival." Lydia admits, taking him with her eyes in just in case it happens any second.

"Me too." Stiles smiles softly at her. "But I know for a fact this is real cause I already pinched myself a hundred times." He grins and Lydia laughs.

"So what do you want to do today?" Lydia places her arms on the table in a professional way and Stiles laughs. He thinks for a moment and then smiles at her.

"Come on." He stands up and takes her hand. "I wanna show you something."

Lydia sits in the car with her eyes glued onto Stiles. She still can't believe that he is there in front of her, flesh and blood. He catches her staring and she quickly glances away but she can see his smile through his wing mirror.

The Jeep is exactly how she imagined it: old, pale blue, rusty, charismatic. The one thing that she never anticipated before was that she would be sitting in it. Stiles turns down a dingy road that Lydia has been too scared to go down ever since she was a little girl.

"Where are we going?" she frowns slightly, trying to imagine what fun could possibly be down this road.

"You'll see." He grins at her and then diverts his eyes back onto the road ahead of him.

"All I'm seeing is a possible murder scene…" she raises her eyebrows at him and he laughs. He doesn't say anything after that, ignoring Lydia's questions. Eventually he turns another corner and the view of a beautiful mountain surrounded by emerald green grass and ivy trees with a stream and a waterfall placed directly in the centre. Some deer and various other wildlife bounce and spring around the field, dancing happily in their solitude. Nobody is around. Lydia's eyes fall wide and her mouth pops open involuntarily.

"Sometimes what looks like a ramshackle on the outside can be the most beautiful place you'll ever see on the inside." Is all Stiles says before he exits the Jeep and starts walking towards the stone wall parting the paradise from the path. Lydia quickly follows after him, desperate to get a closer look.

"This place is beautiful!" Lydia breathes out, leaning over the wall to get as close as she can. "Why have you never told me about this place?" she places her hands on her hips in mock annoyance.

"I used to come here with my mom when we were younger… I'm sure I mentioned it once but probably not very descriptively." He laughs… and then the sparkle in his eyes dims slightly. "When my mom got sick I didn't like to talk about the things we did together."

Lydia places her hand on Stiles' arm to silently tell him that he doesn't have to keep talking about it. He smiles softly at her and then lifts himself up onto the wall, legs facing the mountain scene. Lydia jumps up with him. "I try to come here as much as I can." He breathes in probably the freshest air in the whole of Beacon Hills and looks at a fawn following its mother.

"I bet you bring Lucy here all the time…" Lydia smiles contently as she stares forward, taking in the beauty and enjoying the presence of Stiles next to her.

"Actually… I've never brought her here. She doesn't even know I come here." He looks over to Lydia and she looks back at him, confused.

"Why not?" she asks, genuinely interested for the first time in a topic involving Lucy.

"I guess I just wanted this to be _my_ place…" he replies after thinking for a few moments.

"Then why did you bring me?" Lydia laughs slightly at his logic.

"Because…" Stiles starts but then shakes his head and turns back to the mountains.

"No, tell me!" she grins, pinching his arm playfully. "You can't leave me hanging now that you've started this."

"Do you remember what you said to me before?" he asks, looking right in her eyes in a way that makes her feel a little giddy inside.

"You're gonna have to be a little clearer than that, my friend, I've said a lot of stuff to you." She giggles and he can't help but smile.

"I mean when you said…" he's interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket. He sighs and pulls it out. "It's Lucy…" Lydia gestures to say that he can take the call and watches him answer, listen, respond with yes and no, listen, say goodbye and then sigh. "She wants me to meet her. I'm so sorry."

"Oh," Lydia frowns slightly but quickly forces herself to exchange it for a smile. "No, don't worry about it… Go!" she gives him an awkward dig in the arm to hide her disappointment. "Just promise me I'll get to hear where this conversation was going!" she laughs playfully.

"Maybe." He winks and jumps down from the wall, helping her down too and they slowly walk back towards his Jeep. "I'll take you here again, definitely."

"Thank god!" Lydia breathes a sigh of relief. "I was too scared to ask!" she grins and Stiles laughs.

On the way back to Lydia's apartment, they chat like they've been hanging out since the day they were old enough to walk, and technically they have. Stiles pulls up outside and Lydia opens the door. "Talk to you later?"

"Talk to you later." He smiles and then she exits the car and starts walking inside, stopping briefly to wave him off.

Lydia can't stop smiling as she walks through her apartment door and into her kitchen to see… Malia and Allison _still there_. They're sat around her table playing some sort of card game in their pyjamas.

"What have you been doing?" Malia asks without even looking up from the cards in her hands. Allison, the more polite one of the two, places her cards face down on the table and looks up at Lydia.

"Doing some stuff, I left a note." Lydia tells them through a yawn as she opens the fridge to grab some orange juice.

"Bit rude to refer to Stiles as 'some stuff'" Malia grins devilishly and Lydia rolls her eyes.

"I wasn't _doing_ Stiles, Malia. I was running errands!" Lydia pulls a chair out and joins her best friends round the table.

"And apparently Stiles was involved in those errands." Allison folds her arms and smirks.

"Let me guess… Scott?" Lydia sighs and Allison nods with a wide grin. "I guess the note Stiles left Scott wasn't as private as the one I left you guys…" Lydia mutters to herself.

"Why _was_ your note secretive anyway?" Allison prys.

"Did you do him?" Malia chips in.

"Because of this." Lydia answers Allison through a rolling of her eyes. "And, no, I didn't." she replies to Malia. "He has a girlfriend."

"So you would if he didn't?" Allison wiggles her eyebrows and Malia chuckles at Lydia's frustration.

"No, shut up!" Lydia stands back up from the table and gulps down her orange juice. "We were just hanging out… as friends."

"You two only met, like, yesterday and you're already meeting up like best friends." Allison starts, "All I'm saying is that there seems to be something there." She raises her hands.

"And plus, you're way better than that _Lindy_ chick." Malia adds.

"It's Lucy." Lydia corrects her and Malia shrugs in a 'so?' kind of way. "I just feel like I've known him forever… that's all." Lydia tells them, truthfully.

"And that means that you must like each other! There's a connection." Allison grins innocently and Lydia rolls her eyes, secretly feeling pleased with the assumptions her friends are making.

"You two can either stay here or go home, I don't care. I'm going for a nap." She tells them, exiting the room so that she's not faced with any more questions or accusations.

Lydia drops back on her bed and closes her eyes, wondering if she should try and speak to Stiles or whether he'll be busy with Lucy. She decides against it, worried about what she might hear.

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 _Please review x_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hey guys, sorry the chapter isn't up on the usual day. After uploading last week I'm trying to get them back in the usual routine but it's difficult :D I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, please review ! :D THANKS_

Stiles and Lydia hang out more and more over the next few weeks, their special place being the amazing scenery that Stiles showed her. Every time Lydia is about to bring up what Stiles was saying when he was interrupted by Lucy, she stops herself. She's scared that she already knows what he's going to say: he feels bad about what she said about liking him. That's why he took her to his special, secret place.

"You okay?" Stiles asks, sipping his milkshake through the straw. His eyebrows are slightly furrowed and Lydia realises she must have been lost in thought.

"Yeah, just thinking." She replies, smiling softly which seems to relax him somewhat.

"Thinking about what?" he places his milkshake on the floor and lies on his back, facing the sky. They had gone to a dessert restaurant and ordered milkshakes before driving to their special place. They then climbed over the wall and lay down on the soft, un-littered grass.

"Just about stuff." Lydia shrugs the topic off and turns from her back onto her stomach to face Stiles. "What's going on with you?" she asks. She's noticed over the past few weeks that Stiles has been distant and almost sad-looking.

"What do you mean?" he shrugs, not facing her. She inches herself closer to him so that her chin is lying on his arm.

"You know what I mean. I can tell when you're not right, so tell me what's up." Lydia insists and Stiles sighs.

"Lucy doesn't like me hanging out with you so much and she's giving me a hard time about it, that's all." He gives her a small smile that she can tell is forced and Lydia feels terrible. Of course Lucy isn't happy; Lydia wouldn't be if her boyfriend was hanging out with some girl all the time that wasn't her.

"I'm sorry. I forget that nobody else knows the depth of our friendship. They'd understand if they did." Lydia smiles sadly at him and Stiles rolls onto his side to face her properly.

"Don't be sorry. This isn't your problem, it's mine. I'll handle it." He assures her but she still feels bad and Stiles can tell. "I usually don't tell her that I'm hanging out with you. She can't be mad if she doesn't know."

Lydia doesn't like that answer; she doesn't want Stiles to have to lie to his girlfriend for her. But she doesn't say anything because she can see how stressed the situation makes him. She accepts his answer with a small smile and then lies on her back again, staring at the blue sky.

At around 4:40pm, they both decide that it's time to start heading home. Lydia, again, sits in Stiles' Jeep with a constant smile on her face. Her time with Stiles seems to have that effect on her. She's always sort of disappointed when he pulls up outside her house.

"Talk to you later." She feeds him her familiar parting line and he returns it, using the exact same words. She then exits the Jeep and walks up to the doors to the apartment building, turning to wave before heading in.

Lydia potters around her apartment, doing pointless things to pass the time. She cooks herself some pasta and sits out on her balcony to eat it. It's around 6:50pm when she finishes eating and enjoys a nice cup of coffee. It's still warm outside and the sun hasn't even attempted to go down yet. Lydia loves these long, warm summer days. Stiles has always been a winter person, loving to sit in front of a fire with a warm cup of hot chocolate in his slippers with a movie on. While that idea sounds lovely to Lydia, she hates the cold days and the thick, frumpy clothes she has to wear.

Lydia washes up her dishes and puts them away before returning to her position on the balcony. At 7:20pm, the sun has finally started to fall down behind the buildings. Lydia decides to try and talk to Stiles; she already misses hearing his voice. Although now they can meet in person and Lydia wouldn't trade that in for the world, she now feels like she can't talk to him as much as she used to; she feels like she's bothering him when she does.

Lydia opens the 'gateway' between her and Stiles in her head and opens her mouth to talk, but stops when she hears the, annoyingly familiar, voice of Lucy.

"I called you three times today and you didn't even answer. Were you with Lydia again?" Lucy sounds pissed but she's keeping her voice steady. Lydia can imagine her pacing around his room with a scowl on her face.

"No, I was with Scott." Stiles lies, but the frightening thing is that there is no trace of a lie in his tone. If Lydia didn't know what he was actually doing, she would have believed him. She bites her lip, knowing that he's so good at lying because he has to do it so much… and that's because of Lydia.

"Well that's funny because I called Scott after you wouldn't answer. And he said you were with Lydia." Lucy spits out in a tone worse than aggression. Lydia feels like she shouldn't be listening to this conversation but she can't stop herself.

"If you knew that then why wouldn't you just say?" Stiles retorts, his voice angry like Lydia's never heard before; she knows he hates people messing with him like that. Her brain starts to ache from the effort of listening but she pushes through it.

"Because I was testing you! Why did you lie to me?" Lucy is now screaming.

"Because you hate me hanging out with her. I was trying to stop you worrying that I'm losing interest in you." Stiles tells her calmly.

"Well what am I supposed to think when you hang out with her _all_ the time?" Lucy yells. The level of anger is way more dramatic than the situation needs and Lydia literally starts to cringe.

"You're supposed to _trust_ me. You're supposed to know that I wouldn't cheat on you!" Stiles starts to lose patience. "I don't get mad when you hang out with you parade of guy friends!"

There's a moment of silence. Lydia doesn't know what it is, but something doesn't feel right. And then, when Stiles speaks again, she knows why.

"Don't ever hit me again. I don't hit you, you don't hit me." Stiles sounds calm but authoritative. Lydia's whole body tightens in anger at the realisation that Lucy just hit Stiles and she decides that she hates the girl, 100%.

"Oh, piss off!" is Lucy's reply. She starts muttering a bunch of words that Lydia can't hear. The sound of her voice gets quieter and eventually stops, telling Lydia that she has stormed out of the room. Lydia wants to say something to Stiles but decided it's best not to let him know that she just heard that whole argument.

"Lydia?" Stiles voice enters her head and she jumps, almost falling from her chair. Her heart starts pummelling; could he tell that she was listening in?

"Y-yes?" she tries to sound casual and internally cringes at her stutter.

"You okay?" he asks, obviously noticing the stutter. Lydia closes her eyes and sighs, cursing herself.

"You just made me jump." She replies with a little laugh. Technically she's not lying. "What's up?"

"You wanna go and get some coffee?" he answers straight away. If Lydia hadn't just heard what she had then she wouldn't have thought anything. She would have just said yes and went out like normal. But now she feels worried about him, sorry for him. She tries not to let it show.

"Sure. Usual place?" she forces herself to sound like her normal, light-hearted self.

"See you in ten." He tells her and then cuts off the chat. Lydia takes a deep breath and then goes to get ready.

Stiles is almost fifteen minutes late to the café and normally Lydia would have made some jokey comment, but not today. He drops down into the seat looking tired and fed up. There is a nasty looking bruise on his cheek, right below his right eye and Lydia boils with anger once again.

"What happened to your face?" she asks, letting her concern show.

"I walked into a wall." Stiles answers shortly. Lydia wasn't expecting him to tell her the truth so she just looks down at the table quietly and tries to think of something to say. And then Stiles speaks again.

"And that wall was Lucy."


	12. Chapter 12

_Sorry, missed last week! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to write ;D Please leave a review, you guys haven't done that in a while. I don't know how many of you are still reading this, I hope you are! xx_

Lydia sits wide eyed for a few moments, surprised that Stiles told her the truth. His cheeks flush slightly pink and he looks down at the table, snapping Lydia out of her shocked state.

"What happened?" she asks, pretending as if she doesn't already know. Stiles looks up at her and flushes slightly harder as he clocks her eyes glued to the purple bruise on his face from Lucy's hand.

"Scott told her I was hanging out with you. She didn't like it…" Stiles speaks evenly, not showing any emotion. His face looks drained and tired and she can tell that he just wants to go to sleep and start fresh tomorrow.

"This isn't right Stiles… you can't just ignore this. Think about what would have happened if it was _you_ that hit _her_. Don't brush this away like it's not the same thing." Lydia frowns deeply, resisting the urge to reach out and touch his face.

"What am I supposed to do?" he sighs in irritation.

"Break up with her for a start. It's never okay to hit someone!" Lydia bites her lip in embarrassment over what she said.

"I can't. She has problems, she's insecure and uptight and… freaking crazy. If I break it off with her then there's no telling what she will do." Stiles argues, his tone now a mix of anxious and angry. "Trust me I tried before."

"Well it doesn't matter what she does, you can't stay with her just because you think she might do something. I suggest you dump her and delete her on everything you have. Block her number, delete her on whatever social media she's on… just get her out of your life." Lydia can tell that she's getting through to him. She can see that he agrees with everything she's saying and that he's actually taking it into consideration.

"What do I even say?" he asks, defeated. The corners of Lydia's mouth turn up just a bit in relief and she leans back into her chair.

"Exactly what you feel." She replies. Lydia glances at her phone to check the time. It's now 9:28pm and both she and Stiles are feeling tired. "Maybe we should start heading home." She says, her voice starting to grow hoarse with fatigue.

"Do you maybe want to, like, come and stay over at mine?" Stiles swallows hard and looks up at his strawberry blonde friend. "Finally see what the inside of my house looks like after all these years?"

"Sure." Lydia replies rather too quickly. She has always wanted to see the inside of Stiles' house. She always imagined it to be massive with grey bricks, like a castle. As a kid she would have dreams about them playing inside together, standing on the roof with telescopes and watching the people below them.

Stiles and Lydia both get into their separate cars and Lydia follows the Jeep back to the Stilinski residence. She watches every house they pass, waiting for him to turn into one and park. Eventually they turn into a little cul-de-sac full of cute houses and the powder blue Jeep parks on the driveway of the second house on the right. Lydia parks next to it and exits the vehicle, examining every detail of the house.

"So… what do you think?" Stiles asks as he clambers out of the Jeep and stretches his tired legs. Lydia smiles at him.

"It's different to how I imagined it." She admits. She knew it would be, of course Stiles wouldn't live in the castle that she thought up at a kid. However she still imagined grey bricks, when in fact the bricks were a deep shade of orangey-red.

"Wait till you see the inside." He grins, keying into the door and then standing back to let Lydia inside first. "My dad's at the station so don't worry about waking him or anything."

Lydia steps inside and takes a look around. She notices pictures on the walls of Stiles and who Lydia guesses must be his mom and dad. One picture makes her wash over with a feeling of sadness; a picture of his mom lying in a hospital bed while a young Stiles lay sleeping at her side. Lydia remembers his mom always being in and out of the hospital when they were kids.

"Well?" Stiles asks as he closes the door behind them. Lydia takes one last inventory of the space around them and then comes to her conclusion.

"It's smaller than I imagined." She grins and Stiles laughs. "But it's cute. I love it."

"My rooms upstairs." He yawns and Lydia suddenly is hit with a wave of exhaustion. She forgot how tired she was until the mention of a bedroom.

They both head upstairs and Stiles heads into his bathroom to brush his teeth. "I just realised that I didn't bring anything with me." Lydia admits, examining Stiles' room.

"I have a packet of toothbrushes, you can have one of them and you can borrow a shirt if you like." Stiles calls to her from the bathroom with his mouth full of toothpaste. Lydia thanks him and then starts wandering around the room, looking at pictures and his different drawings. When Stiles comes out of the bathroom he is wearing an old t-shirt and some plaid pyjama bottoms. He reaches into his wardrobe and pulls out a t-shirt, chucking it at her. "I left the toothbrushes on the sink."

Lydia brushes her teeth and changes into the oversized t-shirt, feeling immediately safe and comforted in the fabric. She then heads back into the bedroom and smiles as the sleepy Stiles sets up a side of his bed for her.

"You don't mind sleeping in the bed with me, right?" Stiles asks, suddenly becoming aware of her presence. "I can sleep on the floor if you would prefer it."

"No, I don't mind." She quickly replies, walking over to the bed and dropping down onto it, sighing contently at the softness of the mattress.

They lie there silently for a while, the lights switched off. Just as Lydia is about to fall asleep, Stiles starts to speak.

"Remember what I was saying to you the other day?" he asks and Lydia can tell by the sound of his voice that he is half asleep. She hums in question, asking him to elaborate. "I was about to say something to you, about something that you said but then Lucy called me…" he says and then Lydia hums again to tell him that she remembers. "I was going to talk to you about what you said to me not long before we met… about liking me." He mumbles sleepily and Lydia freezes, all signs of fatigue gone. Her eyes shoot open wide and she holds her breath. "I was going to tell you that…I liked you too." He says through a yawn and then he's gone… asleep.

Lydia lies there, completely still, with a tingling sensation running through her entire body. She breathes slowly, as if getting excited might make her wake up from a dream and have everything Stiles just said to her not be real…


	13. Chapter 13

_I know it's not very long, or good, so sorry about that! Hope you enjoy it and continue to read anyway. Tried to get it out for today which is why it's short. Please leave a review x_

Lydia somehow manages to fall asleep cocooned in Stiles' bed sheets. She wakes up the next morning and it takes her a little while to realise where she is but once she does, she also remembers what happened the night before and what Stiles said as he fell asleep. She glances over at her best friend and her heart fills with a strange feeling - one that she's had for a long time, but not at this level.

Stiles eyes flutter open and Lydia can't help but smile at how sleepy and peaceful he looks lying next to her. She decides quickly that it's a sight she would like to experience again. "Hey." He mutters, his voice hoarse and sleepy. She sits up and stretches her arms above her head. Stiles does the same and they're both looking at each other for a good minute before Lydia speaks.

"What do you want to do today?" she asks, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Do you wanna head over to our place?" he replies through a yawn, standing up and heading over to his cupboard to get some clothes out.

"Sure." Lydia smiles. She will never get over how beautiful that place is and always loves going there.

"Okay just let me get changed and then I'll take you home so you can grab some stuff." He tells her as he walks into the bathroom.

An hour and a half later they are both sitting in the grass throwing food out to some bunnies sitting nearby. Lydia sighs contently and smiles to herself. The summer holiday from school is almost over and Lydia doesn't want to go back to normal life. Lydia's phone goes off and she looks down at the text.

 **Allison – Going over to Malia's house. She asked if you wanted to come but don't worry, I told her you'd be out with Stiles ;D**

Lydia rolls her eyes and laughs to herself before sending a reply.

 **Lydia – How do you know I'm with Stiles? Maybe I'm out running errands…**

 **Allison – Alright. Tell me you're not with Stiles then**

 **Lydia - …**

 **Allison – See you tomorrow for Malia's party :D**

Lydia turns the phone off and lies back on the grass. Everyone from both Lydia's and Stiles' school had been invited to Malia's birthday party tomorrow and to be honest Lydia was excited. She's interested in seeing the types of people that Stiles hangs out with.

"Stiles…" Lydia sits back up and turns to look at her best friend. The memory of what he told her last night is beginning to become too much to ignore anymore. "Do you remember what you said to me last night… before you fell asleep?"

Stiles drops his head into his hands and laughs nervously. "Honestly…I kinda thought I dreamt that."

Lydia laughs and breathes a slight sigh of relief; she had begun to think she had dreamt it too. "So… did you mean it?"

"Lydia let's not do this now. Not yet…" Stiles looks her straight in the eyes with a reassuring smile that tells her he still means what he said. "Wait till after the party tomorrow."

"Why?" Lydia furrows her eyebrows but she still can't help but grin at the same time.

"I need to sort something out first. Then we'll talk, I promise." He reaches his hand out and squeezes hers before lying back on the grass.

Suddenly Lydia is even more excited for Malia's party than ever before.


	14. Chapter 14

_Surprise! An update :D I know it's been a looooong time and i'm sorry for that! I hope you guys are still reading... I know some of you have been waiting for this chapter and I hope you enjoy it :) Please review xx_

Lydia wakes up the next morning and immediately dials Malia's number, checking the time to make sure she doesn't look like she forgot or doesn't care. It's only 9.00am and so Lydia breathes out in relief.

"Hey Lydia!" Malia chirps with her mouth full of food. "Wanna come over? Allison's here" she says after swallowing the food. "She brought cake!"

Lydia rolls her eyes and giggles at one of her best friends. Then, on cue, Allison jumps into the conversation. "Come on Lyd!"

"I'll be there in a minute." She laughs, hanging up and throwing her bed sheets onto the ground. Lydia has been contemplating telling her two best friends about who Stiles really is from the start, but they would never believe her. And could she make them?

Lydia jumps into the shower, quickly washes and then dries herself off. She takes out a red, flowery dress from her cupboard and peels it into her body before applying some light makeup. When she's done, she slips on some pumps and grabs Malia's birthday present (a book of werewolves that Malia reads every time she enters the library. Lydia thought she might as well own a copy for herself)

Lydia then exits her apartment and gets into the car to head over to Malia's house. The whole journey, she still thinks about telling them. Surely she could prove it, right? Or they would think she's crazy and push her out of their group.

"Lydia!" Malia greets and it takes the red head a few seconds to realise she had exited the car and knocked on Malia's door; she was so lost in thought.

"Happy birthday!" she grins, handing over the present and giggling as Malia tore off the paper like a young child. She gasps with wide eyes and throws her arms around Lydia.

"Thank you so much, Lydia!" she squeals, dragging her bestie through her front door and into the living room. Paper wrapping is spread all of the left side of the room and on the other side, lays bags of party food and decorations. Her dad loves to spoil her and so even agreed to stay in a hotel while this party went on.

"So, Lydia… how did the day with Stiles go yesterday?" Allison clicks her tongue at the strawberry blonde and she rolls her eyes.

"Fine. He… might have admitted that he has feelings for me." Lydia tightened up, preparing for the screams and yells of delight from her friends. And they did scream, loudly.

"Already? Wow you must really have your charm on Lyds. It took weeks for Scott to even _notice_ me let alone fall for me!" Allison laughed and Lydia found herself again wondering if she should tell them. Then, she decided she would. She sucked in a huge breath and prepared herself to try and explain.

"I've known him longer than you guy's think." She starts and Allison throws her a questioning look while Malia treads back over from her pile of gifts and sits on the floor, facing Lydia. "I've known him all my life." She admits.

"No… you met him at the pool that once and then it turned out he was Scott's friend, right?" Allison frowns, hoping that her best friend hasn't been lying to her about that story.

"Well, technically yeah. That's how we met in person." Lydia explains with a shaky voice.

"What are you doing?" Stiles voice pops into her head and she jumps. She hadn't even realised she was letting him listen. Maybe she did it subconsciously.

"Telling them the truth." She answers in her mind, ignoring the ache that went with it.

"So, you were online buddies?" Malia laughs, unable to imagine Lydia making a friend online. She barely even uses the internet other than to google things. She hardly even answers her texts.

"No, not exactly… you remember when I was a kid and I had an imaginary friend?" she asks and Allison's face crumples into a laugh as she realises where this conversation is going.

"Alright, that's hilarious Lyds. Nice one. Malia, got any cake left for Lydia? I think she needs some." Allison giggles and then stops when she sees how serious Lydia's expression is. "Wait, you're actually being serious?" she asks in disbelief.

"It's true. How can I prove it?" Lydia sighs, feeling frustrated.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Stiles pops back into her head and she ignores him.

"Okay, Lydia." Malia starts getting involved after getting over the initial shock of the conversation topic. "I know that he has the same name as your imaginary friend from your childhood, but it isn't him. That isn't possible outside of superhero movies." She giggles at the last bit and Lydia frowns.

"Okay, fine. Bring Stiles over here and we'll see." Allison laughs, joking. But Lydia agrees and asks him to come over out loud. Allison laughs nervously, coming to the conclusion that her friend has lost her mind.

"Lydia… are you sure about this?" he asks but she can hear by the jittering in his voice that he is walking.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She says out loud and Malia trades a look of genuine concern with Allison.

After about fifteen minutes of silence, the door knocks. Allison and Malia both jump but Lydia stays settled, hoping that this will prove things to her friends. Malia answers the door and Lydia and Allison hear her saying 'Come in" before she walks back in with Stiles behind her.

"Alright, this is some kind of prank. You two planned this before." Allison concludes. Lydia shakes her head and beckons a nervous looking Stiles over to her. He does as he's told, sitting down next to her.

"How do you want us to prove it?" Lydia asks, her face straight and serious. Allison and Malia trade one more look before Ally shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.

"Fine. Lydia stays in here, Stiles stands upstairs. We take your phones and tell Lydia to say something." She explains, unable to believe that she's actually going along with this right now.

"I'll go up with Stiles to hear what he says and then me and you meet in the kitchen and I'll tell you?" she asks Ally, a playful look in her eyes. She can't believe this is actually happening.

Lydia hands over her phone and, reluctantly, Stiles does the same. He glances over to Lydia to see if she will change her mind but she looks set. He sighs and stands up, following Malia upstairs. He never wanted this secret to get past him and Lydia and he was honestly feeling a bit pissed off with her that she would do this and not ask him if he was okay with it.

"Okay, Lydia… what should I say?" she pouts her lips as she thinks, struggling not to laugh. "Something that isn't easy…" she sighs.

Lydia sits there patiently, waiting. Eventually Allison comes up with something and smiles mischievously. "When this works, I hope you apologise." Lydia smirks.

"When this _doesn't_ work, I hope _you_ apologise." She grins. "Tell him… wibbly wobbly jelly jiggles." She shrugs and Lydia rolls her eyes. She sends the message across to Stiles without hesitation.

Upstairs, Stiles groans. Did he really have to say that out loud? Malia looks at him expectantly and he shakes his head before repeating the words Lydia gave him. "Wibbly wobbly jelly jiggles." He tells her through a huge eye roll. Malia tries not to laugh as she scoots past him and out of the door, leaving him standing there alone.

Malia and Allison meet in the kitchen and Allison waits for Malia to feed her the wrong line or even a confession from Stiles that it isn't true. "He said wibbly wobbly jelly jiggles?" Malia frowns, still trying not to laugh from the bazaar sentence. Allison freezes.

"He really said that?" she blinks a few times and swallows. Her heart skips a beat and she struggles to reclaim her composure. Malia nods, confusion lining her face. "I said that to Lydia." Allison tells her and she can tell that Malia is feeling exactly how she feels.

Both girls enter the room that Lydia is sat in and Allison instructs her to call Stiles down. A few moments of silence later and Stiles jogs down the stairs and enters the room.

"This isn't possible." Malia finally speaks and Lydia just shrugs.

"Where's my apology?" she grins at Allison who laughs slightly and shakes her head, feeling overwhelmed.

"I'm… I'm sorry." she breathes out and sits on the sofa to stop herself from feeling dizzy.

Lydia smiles at Stiles but he turns away from her. "Can I leave now?" he asks but doesn't wait for an answer. Instead, he just walks out the door and Lydia frowns. She tries to talk to him in her mind but he's cut off the chat, obviously knowing she would try.

"Are you two okay?" she quickly asks and both of them nod their heads.

"This has been the weirdest… and best birthday ever." Malia tells her slowly and Lydia smiles at her before rushing out of the door after Stiles.


	15. Chapter 15

_Another update! Trying to get back into the regular updates for you guys as I have noticed that a lot of my readers have left me :'( I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review! xx_

"Stiles, wait!" Lydia calls as she notices Stiles climbing into his Jeep, ready to leave. He hesitates for a second, as if he's debating whether to just drive off and leave her standing there, and then he stops and turns to face her. "Why are you rushing off?" she smiles, trying to sound casual.

"Why did you do that?" he frowns and shakes his head. She stutters for a second, surprised and unsure of what to say. "Do you know what I was doing with my day before I came over here?"

"Stiles…" she doesn't give him an answer, completely baffled by his sudden anger towards her.

"I was over at Lucy's. I woke up bright and early to head over there… do you know why?" he gestures for her to answer him and she grows more confused.

"What's wrong?" she asks and he smiles a completely false smile.

"What's wrong is that I spent the morning breaking up with Lucy, which was practically impossible with her insecurity and aggression, and then you call me over to tell your friends our secret… without even asking me if I was okay with it first." Stiles tries to keep from shouting but Lydia can hear the anger in his voice.

"Well then why did you come?" Lydia shrugs, growing more impatient herself. "If you _really_ didn't want me telling my friends, why didn't you just not show up? They wouldn't have believed me then!"

"I came for you!" he practically growls. "Because I do _everything_ for you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she folds her arms defensively.

"It means, I broke up with Lucy for you, I outed my secret to your friends before mine _for you_!" he shakes his head as if trying to shake some of the anger away. "I tell you things and show you things that I don't even want to tell anyone about. I do all of these things for you, I can't ever do anything for myself when it comes to you."

"So, you're saying I'm _bad_ for you?" Lydia spits out, feeling tears forming behind her eyes. But deep down she knows he's right. He broke up with Lucy, because she told him to. He told her about his _secret_ hangout spot… he really does do everything for her.

"I don't know what you are for me. I can't tell if doing these things makes you good or bad for me. All I know is that I can't say no to you. I wanted to today, I didn't want your friends finding out before Scott… but I couldn't stop myself from coming here anyway." Stiles sounds calmer now but his anger has swapped with sadness.

"Stiles, I'm sorry. I didn't even think about Scott. I promise I'll help you tell him. Now, if you want. He'll still be one of the first to know." Lydia pleads, wanting to make everything better.

Stiles thinks for a second and then nods, climbing into his Jeep. Lydia breathes out a sigh of relief and jumps into the passenger seat. She doesn't want him mad at her, especially since she's waiting for Malia's party and the thing he told her to 'wait for'.

The journey is a long and quiet one and Lydia can tell that Stiles is still wondering if he's going to forgive her just yet.

"Stiles, I don't want you to be angry with me." She finally breaks the silence and he sighs.

"I'm not mad… I just wish that you would have talked to me first and given me a chance to bring Scott in on it too. I guess I kind of hoped that this would stay out secret… Selfish, huh?" he tells her as she stares out into the road in front of him.

"No, it's not selfish. For a while I've considered it too but I decided that I wanted them to be in on it. I was the selfish one for not asking you first and you have every right to be mad at me." Lydia puts her hand comfortingly on Stiles' arm for a second and then removes it.

"I don't even know why I got so angry; it's not a massive deal. I just got stressed after dealing with Lucy and took it out on you… I'm sorry." Stiles admits and Lydia smiles at him.

"It's my fault you ended it with her, so I take the anger." Lydia grins, joking around with him. She's just glad the tensions gone.

"Yeah, it is your fault!" he grins back and she laughs.

"Hey, I only told you to dump her… you could have just ignored my advice." Lydia teases and Stiles glances at her for a second before realising what she meant.

"Oh, no I didn't… goddammit Lydia." He groans with a hint of a smile on his lips. She raises her eyebrows questioningly at him. "I didn't dump her because you told me too…"

"Then why did you?" Lydia shrugs, amused by his lack of ability to speak. "And why the 'goddammit Lydia'?" she grins.

"I wanted to wait for the party, that's why you get a 'goddammit'!" he fakes anger and she continues to look confused. "Saved by the house" Stiles winks as they pull up outside Scott's place.

"This isn't over!" Lydia gives him a playful look and he shrugs.

"I never intended it to be over… just for you to wait." He smiles and exits the car. Lydia follows him and skips over to Scott door.

When Scott answers the door he has an amused smile on his face and Lydia guesses that Allison had called him and told him what they had just witnessed. "We have something to tell you." Stiles says slowly and Scott nods.

"I know. Allison called… and I don't know how you got them to believe, but I'm not falling for it." He shakes his head, the grin still plastered on his mouth. Lydia and Stiles exchange looks as Scott lets them into his house.

A hour later, of continuous attempts to catch them out, Scott finally gives in with a bewildered expression taking the place of his mocking grin. He shakes his head and Stiles rolls his eyes. "Do you believe us yet? I'm bored."

"How is that possible?" Scott asks, staring at the wall in front of him. Lydia stifles a giggle and Stiles notices, smiling at her.

"We don't have the faintest clue. But it's awesome, so get over it quickly." He pats his best friend on the shoulder. "We're gonna head out… let you get your head in a calmer place for the party later." Stiles laughs at Scott's expression and then gestures for Lydia to leave with him.

"So… can you drop me home so can get ready for Malia's party? I know it's early but I don't have the luxury of turning up when the party starts since I'm her best friend. I have to go early." Lydia asks as they head back to the Jeep.

"Sure."

He drives her back to her apartment and they say their goodbyes. As Lydia is getting changed and doing her hair and makeup, she can't help but feel a little excited for what Stiles is going to tell her tonight.


	16. Chapter 16

_Sorry it took so long to update... again. I haven't had a working computer so I have resorted to my phone. Sorry if there are any mistakes x thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy_

Lydia arrives at Malia's three hours before the party. She helps Allison set up snacks and clear a space on a table in case any of Malia's friends decide to bring her any gifts. Eventually, with one hour till the guests start arriving, Malia trots down the stairs in high heels and a new drew. Lydia notices immediately that she looks lovely and smiles at the thought of Isaacs face when he sees her. For the last hour the three girls have some pre drinks to get themselves going and by the time the door knocks with the first arrival, Lydia is a little tipsy.

Isaac is stood nervously with a small wrapped box in his hand when Lydia opens the door. Malia rushes past her when she notices her boyfriend and wraps her arms around him happily. He relaxes somewhat and plonks the paper covered box into her open palms. She rips the packaging off and opens the box, releasing a beautiful heart shaped necklace. Malia gasps and clutches the necklace to her chest, on the verge of tears. Lydia watches with a hint of sadness. She wishes she had someone who would present her with beautiful jewellery, or anything. Even someone to hold open a door for her.

A few more people arrive, a couple of them dropping half-heartedly wrapped gifts onto the empty space on the table and then heading directly to the alcohol. Malia dances with Isaac and Lucy stands awkwardly at the side of the room surrounded by her friends. Malia only invited her because she knew she would feel awkward, and she found it hilarious. Little did she know that it is Lydia that feels the most awkward.

Finally, Stiles enters the party with Scott. The two complete a 'secret handshake' that Lydia can't help but smile at as she watches from afar. Scott then leaves Stiles and heads straight for Allison, who is already filling and extra glass of punch for him.

Lydia waits for him to notice her, not wanting to seem like she has been desperate for him to arrive. She notices him flush red as he makes eye contact with Lucy and then the relief when he finally finds Lydia. She smiles as he heads towards her, pretending not to notice the scowl spread access Lucy's face.

"Hey." He greets her, taking a bowl-like glass of punch out of her hand. She sips the second one before greeting him back.

"Let me take that for you." She smiles softly and gently takes the gift box from his grasp, placing it on the table next to her. "Come dance?" She offers, holding our her hand for him. She's hoping that he'll say what he wants to tell her when they're alone, dancing. She doesn't just want to outright ask him and seem desperate. Her imagination of him telling her he wants to just be friends is slowly disappearing after what he was hinting at earlier in the day.

Stiles takes her hand with a small grin and they begin to dance in the middle of the room. They talk, but just general chat. There is no mention of what he wants to say and Lydia is starting to worry he's changed his mind. A few hours pass. They dance, drink, meet up and chat with their other friends and then go and dance again. Lydia can definitely say she's having fun, but her mind keeps flashing back to what he wants to tell her. People start leaving and still nothing. They help clear a very drunk Malia's house while Isaac helps her get into bed and still nothing. They sit and talk for a while longer and still nothing.

"D'you want a lift home?" Stiles asks, already grabbing for his keys; he hadn't had anything alcoholic during the party. Only soft drinks. With it being Lydia's last chance, she jumps at the offer. They say their goodbyes and Lydia shuffles out the door and into Stiles' Jeep. It smells like him inside. She smiles, still quite drunk, and leans her head against his window.

The ride home is silent but comfortable and the alcohol is starting to really hit Lydia. She starts chatting about random stuff for a while and eventually, she can't take it anymore.

"Are you gonna tell me what you wanna tell me?" She asks, her voice slightly slurred. She takes a second to make sure her sentence made sense and, convinced that It did, she turns to look at Stiles as he pulls Next to her apartment.

"Don't worry about it tonight. I'll tell you another time." He smiles. "Do you need help getting inside?"

Sober Lydia would have taken that answer with a nod and a polite smile. She would have barely slept that night wondering if he's changed his mind or, worse, didn't even want to be with her anyway. But drunk Lydia is tired of waiting. She wants an answer and she knows a way to get the response she's looking for without even asking. So, instead of being patient, Lydia leans forward and presses her lips directly onto Stiles'. She brings her hands to caress his cheeks and kisses him deeply, waiting for a reaction. And she gets one. Only, not the one she wanted.

Stiles grabs her hands and pulls them away from his face and then draws away from her.

"Lydia..." he struggles to find the words but she doesn't need them. She quickly nods her head, brushes her hair nervously behind her ear and clears her throat.

"It's fine. I get it, sorry." She rambles quickly, her embarrassment so strong it actually sobers her up a lot. She fumbles for the handle and clambers out of the Jeep, rushing towards her apartment. She hears Stiles calling out behind her but she ignores him and continues to climb up the stairs to her floor.

"Lydia, I'm sorry. Let me explain." Stiles' voice pops into her head and she groans. If there was ever a time she hated her ability, it was now. She creates a silence between them, knowing he'll get through it eventually but needing the time.

She lies on her bed, the embarrassment replaces with sadness that she struggles to hold back tears. And then Stiles is back. She doesn't hear him but she feels him. She feels his arms hugging her warmly. She knows that it must be agony for him right now, his head feeling like it's going to burst. But she keeps hugging her and she lets herself cry, touching where she feels his arms even though she can't feel him back.


	17. Chapter 17

_Oh my god I'm so sorry. I thought I had updated this months ago, I am literally kicking myself right now! This is the last chapter guys, but don't worry. This is only book 1! There is another book coming, though this time it's more about why they can actually speak telepathically etc.. that's if you guys want it! Let me know in the reviews x_

Lydia somehow fell asleep. She doesn't remember stiles' presence leaving her but when she wakes up, he's gone. She wipes her sore eyes and sits up in bed, thinking for a moment whether to talk to stiles or ignore him until the embarrassment wears off. And then she realises the embarrassment will never wear off. She sits, staring into space trying to come up with a solution.

"Lydia?..." stiles voice pushes to the front of her thoughts. She jumps, rolling her eyes as if he could see her doing it and, in a way, he can. He can tell she's doing it anyway.

"Stiles..." she answers, trying to make her voice sound as calm and collected as possible, which turned out to be much harder than expected.

"Are you..." he trails off, as if thinking to himself 'what a stupid question. I rejected her, of course she's not freaking okay'

"I'm fine." She answers anyway, sending a small, fake, smile over as well.

"Can we meet up and... talk?"

She sucks in a breath and closes her eyes. She doesn't want to talk. She doesn't want to face him ever again and have to look at his adorable slanted smile, or his chocolate brown eyes that glint golden in the sunlight.

"Sure. When?" She eventually replies and she can feel the relief radiating through his brain over to her.

"Are you ready? I'm ready now. Whenever you're ready," he rambles, clearly nervous to face the girl he embarrassed in his jeep.

"Yeah, I'm ready." She lies, cringing as she looks at her puffy eyes in the mirror.

"Okay, I'll wait here then... at our spot." He swallows hard and Lydia feels a pang in her chest at the way he said "our".

"Cool. I'll be there soon." She struggles to say as she grabs a large sweater out of her cupboard and shoves it over her t-shirt. She feels stiles' presence leave once again and then continues to get ready quickly. She shoves her hair in the top of her head in a messy bun and dots concealer around her eyes to cover up her tears. She then tries her best to practice a smile in the mirror and sets off, pulling on her shoes as she leaves the house.

20 minutes later she's sitting in the car staring at the back of stiles' head as he sits in the field, on the grass, looking at the beautiful background. She pulls herself together and exits her vehicle, slowly treading towards stiles and pushing herself over the short stone wall. Stiles notices her then, turning to face her and smiling softly.

"Hey." He greets her and she smiles quickly back at him.

"What's up?" She struggles to swallow.

"I wanted to talk... about last night." He starts and Lydia cuts him off, unable to bear the thought of what he's about to say.

"No. Don't worry, it was a mistake. I wasn't thinking clearly, I had been drinking and... and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me or anything like that. I just, I'm sorry..." she rushes, shaking her head and using a few to many hand gestures to get across how sorry she is.

"Are you done?" He smiles and she sucks in a deep breath and eventually nods, allowing him to speak. "Lydia, I'm the one who should be apologising. I didn't mean to make you feel like I was rejecting you." He starts and she winces slightly. "I wanted you to stop because you'd had a drink, that's all. Trust me, i debated just letting you keep kissing me." He laughs and she freezes, confused.

"What?" She squeaks.

"I wanted to speak to you alone at the party, but I waited too long. You had a few drinks and got a bit tipsy. I didn't want to put what I was going to say on you while you were vulnerable and not thinking as clearly as normal." He explains and she kicks herself for not staying in his jeep so he could've explained this last night.

"Tell me now." She says and he smiles softly.

"Lydia... we've been able to speak to each other for a long time, long before we met. I've always valued you, needed you even. I had pictures in my head of the beautiful woman I expected you to be, but when I saw you I was blown away. Lydia, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." He takes a moment to pause and catch his breath while Lydia melts into the grass she's sitting on, her eyes watering. "I knew right from the start that I was in love with you and I was stupid enough not to act on it. I kept telling myself that I would ruin everything when I should've just went for it. And last night, when you kissed me, my whole world was lit up. But I didn't know if it was really you, so I stopped you. And when you left my car, I beat myself up the entire journey home..."

Lydia doesn't need to hear any more. She's heard more than enough and so she just goes for it, one more time, feeling confident that it will go her way this time. She kisses stiles. And this time he kisses her back. Straight away.

Life from there on was amazing for the both of them. They never cried over each other, never got jealous if the other was talking to someone. They both knew that nobody could ever have a connection like they do and so nothing worried them.

That was, until _she_ showed up...


	18. Book 2

Who's ready for book two?!

I know it's been a while. I hope you guys still remember this book and continue to read it.

book two is coming any time now! As soon as I finish the first chapter x


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